[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
"Where are we going?"
"That's not your concern. Just tell me whether you will come quietly."
Panille swallowed, then nodded.
"We're welding the inner hatch closed as we leave," Nakano said. "Everyone
here will be safe. When the next shift tries to get in, you'll get out."
One of the Mermen stepped forward. "Nakano," he whispered past Panille,
"Gallow said we should --"
"Shut up!" Nakano said. "I'm here and he's not. The next shift doesn't come
in for at least four hours."
At Nakano's nod two of his men brought an emergency litter from the space
between the hatches. Panille lay on the litter and was strapped to it. A
blanket was tucked around him.
"This is a medical emergency," Nakano said. "We hurry but we don't run.
Carry him through all hatchways headfirst. Panille, you close your eyes.
You're unconscious and I want you to stay that way or I'll make it real."
"I understand."
"We don't want anything nasty happening to the lady."
This thought haunted Panille as they maneuvered through the hatchways and
corridor.
Why me? Panille couldn't imagine being that important to Gallow.
They stopped at a transport tube and Nakano tapped out the Emergency code.
The next car stopped and a half-dozen curious faces peered out at Panille's
form on the litter.
"Quarantine!" Nakano said, his voice curt. "Everybody out. Don't get too
close."
"What's he got?" one woman asked. She skirted the litter widely.
"Something new picked up from the Mutes," Nakano said. "We're getting him out
of Core. This car will be sterilized."
The car emptied quickly and Panille's bearers hustled him inside. The doors
snicked closed and Nakano chuckled. "Every sniffle, every ache and pain will
have sickbay crowded for days."
"Why all this rush?" Panille asked. "And why cook Current Control?"
"Launch countdown has been resumed now that the Guemes matter is over.
Medical emergency guarantees us a fast, nonstop trip. The rest . . . trade
secrets."
"What does the launch have to do with us?"
"Everything," Nakano said. "We're headed for Outpost Twenty-two, the recovery
station for the hyb tanks."
Panille felt the hot surge of adrenaline. The hyb tanks!
"Why take me there?" he asked.
"We've set up a new current control. You're going to direct it."
"I thought you were too smart to get caught up in Gallow's wake," Panille
said.
A slow smile touched Nakano's heavy face. "We're going to free hundreds,
maybe thousands, of humans in hyb. We're going to liberate the prison they've
endured for thousands of years."
Panille, strapped on the litter, could only look from Nakano to the three
henchmen. All three wore the same bliss-ninny grins.
"People from the hyb tanks?" Panille asked, his voice low.
Nakano nodded. "Genetically clean -- pure humans."
"You don't know what's up there," Panille said. "Nobody knows."
"Gallow knows," Nakano said. There was hard belief in his voice, the kind of
Page 170
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
tone that indicates the necessity to believe.
The transport capsule's overhead panel came to life and a recorded male voice
droned: "Lighter-Than-Air, Base Bravo loading facility."
The hatches hissed open. Panille's litter was picked up and carried out onto
the loading platform with near-surface light trickling through heavy plaz
panels overhead.
Panille watched as much as he could through slitted eyelids.
An LTA facility? he wondered. But they said we were . . . The truth dawned
--
they were going to fly him to the outpost!
He almost opened his eyes but restrained himself. Blowing it now would not
bring him closer to Kareen.
The litter moved with swift lurches and Panille heard Nakano's voice behind
him:
"Medical emergency, clear the way."
Panille's slitted eyes showed him the LTA gondola interior -- a squashed
sphere about ten meters in diameter. It was nearly all plaz, with a canopy of
gray above the orange hydrogen bag. He found himself both excited and
fearful, filled with confusion at this fierce activity. He heard the hatch
seal behind him and Nakano's unruffled voice.
"We made it. You can relax, Panille. Everybody in here is secure."
Panille's straps were loosed and he sat up.
"Tether release in two minutes," the pilot reported.
Panille looked up at the orange canopy -- the bag was a taper of pleats, its
long folds hung down against the cabin's plaz. Once they were up and clear of
the tube, more hydrogen would flow into the bag and fill it out. He glanced
right and left, saw the two hydrogen jets that would propel them once they
were topside.
The whine of a cable winch filled the gondola then. The pilot said, "Strap
down, everyone. A bit rough up there today."
Panille found himself dragged backward into a seat beside Nakano. A strap was
fitted around his waist. He kept his attention on the pilot. No one spoke.
Switches clicked like the hard-shelled chatter of mollusks.
"Topside hatch open," the pilot said, speaking into a microphone at his
throat.
A halo of white light filtered around the bag above them.
The cabin lurched and Panille glanced out to his left, momentarily dizzy with
the sensation that the gondola had stayed stationary and the launch tube was
moving downward past him at increasing speed.
The winch sound silenced abruptly and he heard the hiss of the bag against the
tube's walls. The bag cleared the tube then and light washed the cabin.
Panille heard a gasp behind him, then they were clear of the water, into a
cloudy gray day, swaying beneath the expanding hydrogen bag. The jets swung
out with a low whine and were ignited. The swaying motion of the gondola
steadied.
Almost immediately, they entered a rain squall.
"Sorry, we won't be able to see the rocket launch because of this weather,"
the pilot said. He flicked a switch beside him and a small screen on the
panel in front of him came alight. "We can watch the official coverage,
though."
Panille couldn't see from where he sat and the pilot had the sound turned
down. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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"Where are we going?"
"That's not your concern. Just tell me whether you will come quietly."
Panille swallowed, then nodded.
"We're welding the inner hatch closed as we leave," Nakano said. "Everyone
here will be safe. When the next shift tries to get in, you'll get out."
One of the Mermen stepped forward. "Nakano," he whispered past Panille,
"Gallow said we should --"
"Shut up!" Nakano said. "I'm here and he's not. The next shift doesn't come
in for at least four hours."
At Nakano's nod two of his men brought an emergency litter from the space
between the hatches. Panille lay on the litter and was strapped to it. A
blanket was tucked around him.
"This is a medical emergency," Nakano said. "We hurry but we don't run.
Carry him through all hatchways headfirst. Panille, you close your eyes.
You're unconscious and I want you to stay that way or I'll make it real."
"I understand."
"We don't want anything nasty happening to the lady."
This thought haunted Panille as they maneuvered through the hatchways and
corridor.
Why me? Panille couldn't imagine being that important to Gallow.
They stopped at a transport tube and Nakano tapped out the Emergency code.
The next car stopped and a half-dozen curious faces peered out at Panille's
form on the litter.
"Quarantine!" Nakano said, his voice curt. "Everybody out. Don't get too
close."
"What's he got?" one woman asked. She skirted the litter widely.
"Something new picked up from the Mutes," Nakano said. "We're getting him out
of Core. This car will be sterilized."
The car emptied quickly and Panille's bearers hustled him inside. The doors
snicked closed and Nakano chuckled. "Every sniffle, every ache and pain will
have sickbay crowded for days."
"Why all this rush?" Panille asked. "And why cook Current Control?"
"Launch countdown has been resumed now that the Guemes matter is over.
Medical emergency guarantees us a fast, nonstop trip. The rest . . . trade
secrets."
"What does the launch have to do with us?"
"Everything," Nakano said. "We're headed for Outpost Twenty-two, the recovery
station for the hyb tanks."
Panille felt the hot surge of adrenaline. The hyb tanks!
"Why take me there?" he asked.
"We've set up a new current control. You're going to direct it."
"I thought you were too smart to get caught up in Gallow's wake," Panille
said.
A slow smile touched Nakano's heavy face. "We're going to free hundreds,
maybe thousands, of humans in hyb. We're going to liberate the prison they've
endured for thousands of years."
Panille, strapped on the litter, could only look from Nakano to the three
henchmen. All three wore the same bliss-ninny grins.
"People from the hyb tanks?" Panille asked, his voice low.
Nakano nodded. "Genetically clean -- pure humans."
"You don't know what's up there," Panille said. "Nobody knows."
"Gallow knows," Nakano said. There was hard belief in his voice, the kind of
Page 170
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
tone that indicates the necessity to believe.
The transport capsule's overhead panel came to life and a recorded male voice
droned: "Lighter-Than-Air, Base Bravo loading facility."
The hatches hissed open. Panille's litter was picked up and carried out onto
the loading platform with near-surface light trickling through heavy plaz
panels overhead.
Panille watched as much as he could through slitted eyelids.
An LTA facility? he wondered. But they said we were . . . The truth dawned
--
they were going to fly him to the outpost!
He almost opened his eyes but restrained himself. Blowing it now would not
bring him closer to Kareen.
The litter moved with swift lurches and Panille heard Nakano's voice behind
him:
"Medical emergency, clear the way."
Panille's slitted eyes showed him the LTA gondola interior -- a squashed
sphere about ten meters in diameter. It was nearly all plaz, with a canopy of
gray above the orange hydrogen bag. He found himself both excited and
fearful, filled with confusion at this fierce activity. He heard the hatch
seal behind him and Nakano's unruffled voice.
"We made it. You can relax, Panille. Everybody in here is secure."
Panille's straps were loosed and he sat up.
"Tether release in two minutes," the pilot reported.
Panille looked up at the orange canopy -- the bag was a taper of pleats, its
long folds hung down against the cabin's plaz. Once they were up and clear of
the tube, more hydrogen would flow into the bag and fill it out. He glanced
right and left, saw the two hydrogen jets that would propel them once they
were topside.
The whine of a cable winch filled the gondola then. The pilot said, "Strap
down, everyone. A bit rough up there today."
Panille found himself dragged backward into a seat beside Nakano. A strap was
fitted around his waist. He kept his attention on the pilot. No one spoke.
Switches clicked like the hard-shelled chatter of mollusks.
"Topside hatch open," the pilot said, speaking into a microphone at his
throat.
A halo of white light filtered around the bag above them.
The cabin lurched and Panille glanced out to his left, momentarily dizzy with
the sensation that the gondola had stayed stationary and the launch tube was
moving downward past him at increasing speed.
The winch sound silenced abruptly and he heard the hiss of the bag against the
tube's walls. The bag cleared the tube then and light washed the cabin.
Panille heard a gasp behind him, then they were clear of the water, into a
cloudy gray day, swaying beneath the expanding hydrogen bag. The jets swung
out with a low whine and were ignited. The swaying motion of the gondola
steadied.
Almost immediately, they entered a rain squall.
"Sorry, we won't be able to see the rocket launch because of this weather,"
the pilot said. He flicked a switch beside him and a small screen on the
panel in front of him came alight. "We can watch the official coverage,
though."
Panille couldn't see from where he sat and the pilot had the sound turned
down. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]